The Cozy, Fishy Relationship Between Bank of America and CNN

Something fishy happened between Time Warner and Bank of America on the way to an advertising campaign.

Back in 2009, when public opinion of Bank of America was below low, the Charlotte, N.C., banking giant set out to reverse its abhorrent brand perception in the wake of the credit crisis. The bank roped in Starcom MediaVest Group, one of the largest ad agencies in the world, to help.

Starcom had an idea. Lauren Brand, associate media director for Starcom, explained this week at an industry conference that consumers at that time “wanted to take back control of their finances.” The agency figured that Bank of America should position itself as a brand that can help consumers do just that. “We wanted to provide education through news media,” Brand said.

Now comes the interesting part. Starcom proceeds to conduct what Brand described as an “extensive” search for a media partner to execute on this strategy. It looked for a media venture that could “empower Americans with real information to take control,” she said.

Brand: “We chose Time Warner.”

Time Warner owns CNN, CNNMoney, Fortune, Money, Real Simple. Time Warner presented a series of reports and shows under the banner “Money & Main St.” I count 45 reports, whether in print, online or on TV. Anderson Cooper, the CNN host, did several “Money & Main St.” segments. All the content was sponsored by Bank of America.

So why am I raising this issue? The question is, who came up with the content idea first, Time Warner or Bank of America? Brand says “Money & Main St.” was a Time Warner idea, but then what was Starcom “shopping” for? I have little doubt that Time Warner did Bank of America’s bidding for a price I can only imagine. (Time Warner declined to comment.)

Was the series a good one? Yeah. It offered valuable information to consumers. But Bank of America benefitted most from this unholy partnership. Brand reported that Bank of America had a goal of improving its brand perception among consumers by 3%. The campaign ended up producing results that well exceeded that, according to Starcom. In the perception that Bank of America “helps educate and inform consumers,” Bank of America’s standing improved 13%. In the perception that the bank “provides guidance” to consumers, Bank of America’s reputation rating grew 11%. And in “helping consumers reach their monetary goals,” Bank of America enjoyed a reputation improvement of 10%. Money does buy happiness after all, it seems.